The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it has uncovered new methods of smuggling rice at the commercial border town of Mubi in Adamawa.
The Adamawa/Taraba Area Comptroller of the service, Mr Adetoye Francis, said this while inspecting a tipper lorry truck and two tricycles loaded with suspected smuggled rice in Mubi town on Wednesday.
Francis warned smugglers that the service under the present administration has zero tolerance for any act of economic sabotage.
He said that the command had identified new ways smugglers adopted to conduct their nefarious activities such as using tipper lorries carrying sand with bags of rice beneath the sand in an attempt to deceive custom officials.
“They (smugglers) are using the cover of on-going construction work going on in Mubi by using tippers meant for conveying sand for smuggling by covering the items with sand.
“The lorry you are seeing here was arrested along the Mubi-Sahuda border road with 52 bags of rice covered with sand,” Francis said.
He commended the officers and men of the Mubi office of the command for their commitment to check smuggling at the border town and assured them of support at all time.
The comptroller, who also addressed some members of Mubi business community, cautioned them on the dangers of smuggling on the economy and the consequences if caught.
Earlier, the Officer-in-Charge of Mubi Unit, Mr Aliyu Bunza, who narrated the successes recorded by the unit in checking the activities of smugglers around the border town, lauded the support and cooperation the command is receiving from other security operatives in the area.
Also speaking, some representatives of Mubi business community, Alhaji Sanusi Hassan and Malam Sali Manaja, declared support of their members to customs’ effort to check smuggling.
They promised to continue to educate their members against smuggling.
